TOYOTA CELICA
GRAVEL GREAT
SINCE ITS RELEASE IN 1986, THE FULL-TIME-FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE CELICA GT-FOUR HAS BEEN AN OUTSTANDING PERFORMER FOR TOYOTA. IT BOASTS AN IMPRESSIVE RECORD IN MOTOR SPORT THAT INCLUDES VICTORIES IN BOTH THE CONSTRUCTORS’ AND DRIVERS’ TITLES OF THE 1993 WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP, WHICH, ALONG WITH THE FORMULA 1 CHAMPIONSHIP, IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S TOP TWO MOTOR SPORT EVENTS
Andrew and Julie Mackenzie have owned Albany Toyota since 1994. Today, the group consists of Albany Toyota, Warkworth Toyota, and service centres on the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast and is run by their son Haydn.
It was inevitable Andrew would end up with his own dealership one day. Growing up in Blenheim with an uncle owning the local Ford dealership, naturally he was surrounded by Fords. His uncle would often take him to local street races to watch the plethora of Zephyrs, Anglias, Cortinas, and Vivas, to name a few, compete for victory. Being one of 10 children, Andrew felt privileged to be taken to local race meetings and would often dream about owning some of the cars.
When Andrew left school, he was determined to get into the car business and knew the only way was to start as a car groomer and work his way up the ladder. The rest is, as they say, history.
New arrival
Andrew remembers when one of only five genuine Celica ST205 WRC (World Rally Championship) Group As brought into the country by Toyota New Zealand was delivered to his Albany dealership in 1994. According to Andrew, only 2500 of the vehicles worldwide were homologated to meet FIA requirements so Toyota could compete the ST205 car in world rallying.
These cars were known as ‘Group A’ models — ‘WRC’ in Japan, ‘Group A Rallye’ in Australia — and most were manufactured early in 1994, travelling down the production line alongside normal Gt-four models. Out of the 2500 Gt-four WRCS built, 2100 stayed in Japan, 300 were exported to Europe, 77 went to Australia, and five came to New Zealand.
The other four Group A Celicas brought into New Zealand were also delivered to Toyota dealerships around the country. Toyota New Zealand wanted them to be driven as much as possible as demonstrator models, hoping this would entice potential customers to
purchase the standard version of the new Celica.
Andrew was the first person to drive this limited Group A Celica, and after four months the car was sold to one very lucky customer with just 3000km on the clock.
Impeccable credentials
Many years of Toyota’s WRC competition experience and subsequent victory went into the development of the new Celica Gt-four ST205, which was released for the Japanese market in February 1994 and for the Australian, European, and British markets midway through that year.
Toyota Team Europe (TTE), Toyota’s factory team in the WRC, was instrumental in the development of the final version of the Gt-four ST205, which included a vast array of updates and improvements over the previous models. Sporting unique diagonal mesh grids and a large central ‘power’ bulge, the new all-aluminium bonnet not only reduced weight by 8kg but also undoubtedly emphasized the Gt-four’s potent, sporty look. The bonnet’s centre-right air inlet was specifically designed to maintain highly efficient cooling of the timing belt under severe operating conditions, while the larger right and left air outlets are vital for improving cooling inside the engine bay. In addition, there are upper and lower grilles and small vents in the front bumper to allow higher air-intake volume to improve the efficiency of engine-bay cooling.
From an aesthetic point of view, the specially designed bumpers, diagonal mesh grids on the upper grille, and circular fog lamps fitted in the lower grille to provide for better visibility were all practical enhancements for the new Celica. The new, wider 16-inch aluminium wheels sporting three-spoke hubs for improved controllability and running stability also included larger openings to improve brake cooling.
The Gt-four ST205 was to be the most powerful Celica produced to date. Drawing from years of rally experience, Toyota engineers developed a new two-litre turbo engine exclusively designed for the Gt-four. They fitted a larger CT20B twin-entry turbocharger for higher pressure-charging efficiency, combined with a larger water-cooled intercooler for better cooling efficiency. They modified the water jacket in the cylinder head, using laser-clad valve seats for enhanced engine cooling and efficiency, and revised the intake valve lift. Laser-clad valve seats offer several advantages, such as higher engine output and improved fuel economy owing to lower
The Gt-four ST205 was to be the most powerful Celica produced to date. Drawing from years of rally experience, Toyota engineers developed a new twolitre turbo engine exclusively designed for the Gt-four
Andrew thought the Celica would be the perfect car in which to compete the 2018 Targa New Zealand Tour event in the South Island
valve-head temperature and an increased intake throat diameter compared with conventional press-fit valve inserts. A higher capacity intake-manifold surge tank was also developed to improve intake efficiency, resulting in an engine with higher torque in a wider engine rpm range and a smoother increase to higher rpm ranges.
The name of the game
Supreme handling and performance were the name of the game, and Toyota definitely upped the ante with its full-time 4WD system complete with a central differential and a limited-slip differential (LSD) with viscous coupling. This allowed for optimal torque to be distributed automatically to the front and rear wheels according to the condition of road surface for superb running stability. The rear differential has a torque-sensing LSD that efficiently transfers traction to the road surface and is capable of controlling the position of the car. The Celica Gt-four’s front suspension has Super Strut Suspension as standard, offering superior grip as well as maintaining superior running performance and stability. Instead of using the Super Strut Suspension found in the production cars, the actual ST205 rally cars for WRC came with standard strut suspension, as it was found that the wear rates from the rigours of rallying were too high. Steering performance was further upgraded by a performance rod fitted as standard on the front and rear suspension, increasing lateral rigidity.
To control all this power and performance, Toyota engineers developed a suitable braking package for the Celica Gt-four, comprising an exclusive ventilated disc-braking system for stable braking efficiency. The disc diameter was increased sufficiently to match the larger wheel diameter. The front spiral-finned rotors, which sustain the highest load, were designed to allow for increased ventilation capacity to obtain excellent antifade performance by suppressing heat build-up through efficient cooling. Opposed four-piston-type lightweight aluminium calipers were used on the front brakes with opposed two-piston-type calipers fitted to the rear.
The sports-type anti-lock brake system (ABS) was also available as an option. This system differed from the conventional ABS by generating varying modes of control appropriate for differing car and road surface conditions, giving the driver even better control and driving comfort. The sports-type ABS proved to be extremely effective in sharp corners on dry asphalt roads and other road surfaces with a high coefficient of friction.
Targa touring
Fast forward to late 2017, and Andrew was overseas when he received a call from his son Haydn to say that he had seen a Celica Group A for sale and recognized it as the car from 1994, still in its original blue colour
scheme. Without hesitation Andrew told Haydn to go ahead and buy it back. Andrew thought the Celica would be the perfect car in which to compete the 2018 Targa New Zealand Tour event in the South Island. This would also give him and Julie the opportunity to travel through the back roads of the South Island and take in some of the magnificent scenery on offer. The event was to be a family affair, as Haydn and Hamiltonbased co-driver Matty Sayers were competing in the main event in a Mitsubishi Evo X.
Once Andrew got his old Group A Celica back, the first thing he decided to do was wrap the car in the original WRC Castrol white, red, and green livery in keeping with the event. Andrew and Julie thoroughly enjoyed the Targa and have signed up again for this year’s event, which starts with documentation in Taupo on Labour Day, Monday, 28 October, before travelling through the central North Island to conclude on Saturday, 2 November in Palmerston North.
Andrew says, “The only thing we’ll change this year is to make sure we have a tripmeter on the passenger’s side so that I don’t have to be continually distracted by looking at the odometer for information. This would make things much easier.”
As for Haydn and Matty, they showed their hand early on the opening day of the five-day Targa New Zealand South Island event, heading into the final stage leading the Production 4WD class and the event overall. Unfortunately, they crashed heavily south of Dunedin late on the afternoon of the event’s second day, ditching any hopes of a podium finish. The Mitsubishi was eventually repaired and they were able to continue to the end.
The pair had better luck earlier this year when they won the 2019 Targa Hawkes Bay.
After the 2019 event, Andrew intends to strip off the Castrol livery, restore the car to showroom condition on the original wheels, and place it in their collection. This particular car was the only one of the five that came into New Zealand with leather upholstery, and this is still in fabulous condition. According to Andrew, one of the cars went to Australia and two met their end, so only two of the original five New Zealand–new cars are left in the country, making this unique piece of Japanese motoring history very rare indeed.
Once Andrew got his old Group A Celica back, the first thing he decided to do was wrap the car in the original WRC Castrol white, red, and green livery in keeping with the event